Washington DC – An announcment today by Defense Secretary Robert Gates says that the Pentagon is enacting new rules that make it much more difficult to discharge people in the military due to sexual orientation.

This new temporary guideline would raise the standard required for evidence to be presented in cases, design to prevent outings by a third party or jilted partner. It also provides that any information gathered during medical exams or security reviews cannot be used. Secretary Gates also said that level of rank required to initiate action or to take formal action against a service member would be raised.

The part of the press conference that caught my ear was Mr. Gates talking about the review being done currently of service members and their families (scheduled to be finished at the end of the year). Mr. Gates stressed that the review is not to determine whether or not to repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, but rather what is the best way to do it.

According to the NY Times, in 2009 there were 438 service members discharged under DADT.

Derrick Martin was thrown from his house when his parent's learned he's gay.

Derrick Martin was thrilled when his school decided to let him bring his boyfriend to prom. Unfortunately once his parents were unaware he was gay until then, and when they heard about the news they threw Derrick out of the house. Derrick is now staying at a friend’s house, but says he plans to still attend the prom. As a person who was also thrown out of the house when I was 17, I applaud Derrick’s couragiousness. Parent’s of queer children need to realize what their “morals” are costing their children. Queer teenagers are at an extremely high risk for suicide and this needs to stop!

COCHRAN, Ga. — An 18-year-old senior at Bleckley County High School has won approval to bring a same-sex date to the school prom.

Derrick Martin says he first sought permission in January to bring his date to the April 17 dance at the school. Bleckley County High requires approval in advance for bringing a prom date from outside the county.

Principal Michelle Masters says there’s no school policy covering the subject of same-sex dates.
County schools superintendent Charlotte Pipkin says the board discussed the matter but did not take a vote.

Both Masters and Pipkin say the prom will go on as scheduled. Big difference from Mississippi schools!

Yesterday, March 18th 2010 will be remembered as one of the great days of civil disobedience and LGBT Superheroes!

Lt. Choi and Captain Pietrangelo handcuff themselves to the White House Fence

It started yesterday afternoon in DC where a rally on DADT was being thrown by the HRC and entertainer Kathy Griffen. Although the rally was well attended (thanks to our celebrity fag-hag 😉 ) it was mostly just a publicity stunt for Ms. Griffen’s show “D-List.” That’s when Get Equal Co-Director Robin McGehee and Liutenant Dan Choi showed up. Despite being told by HRC director Joe Solomnese that this was “Kathy’s show,” Lt. Choi took the stage and made it clear that DADT was “no laughing matter” but a serious threat that needed to be brought down immediately and he called on ralliers to march on the White House.

The rally at the gates of the White House was going strong (even though Joe Solomnese and Kathy Griffen didn’t attend despite promises to the contrary) and Lt. Dan Choi and Capt. Jim Pietrangelo handcuffed themselves to the fence in support of the thousands of LGBT service people who are being forced to lie about themselves every day. Then Robin McGehee was arrested by the secret service and the capitol police for helping the Liutenent and the Captain put on the handcuffs. The crowd cheered her and booed the police as she shouted “Get Equal!” and “Fight For Your Rights!” as she was pushed into a patrol car. 30 minutes later Lt. Choi and Captain Pietrangelo were also removed from the fence and arrested.

But the fun didn’t stop there! Get Equal activists also stormed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office and performed a Sit-In in her

The 5 activists who attended the "sit-in" over ENDA in Pelosi's office are arrested.

office, demanding a vote on ENDA by the end of this month. After 4 hours, the 5 activists were also arrested.

Both Robin and the 5 activists were released without bail late last night, but Lt. Choi and Captain Pietrangelo are both still in Jail. Not much information is known yet, but they have NOT been given their phone calls yet.

I view all 8 of these people as absolute HEROES. These are people willing to risk it all in belief that all people in this country should be equal, and the US Constitution does not only apply to some.

UPDATE! Lt. Choi and Capt. Pietrangelo will be arraigned today at 1pmEST at the DC Superior Courthouse.

UPDATE! Lt. Choi and Capt. Pietrangelo plead NOT GUILTY and demand a jury trial rather than pay a $100 fine. “We do not plead guilty for equality.” “Not Guilty, Not ashamed, Not done yet.” Trial set for April 26th!

Massachusettes – A bigot hate group calling itself “MassResistance” snuck into the Peabody Marriot Hotel this past week while the annual “First Event” transgender conference was taking place. With the purpose of “exposing the horror” of transgender men and women using the restrooms. Joe.My.God posted copy from this hate group’s statements:

Transgender madness in Massachusetts: The Peabody Marriott Hotel hosted the annual “First Event” transgender conference on January 15-17, 2009. These photos and videos illustrate the insanity that will descend on all of America . . . unless this sexual radical movement is stopped: Seven-foot men in dresses using the women’s restroom. Hundreds of cross-dressers swarming the hotel, upsetting other guests (who were not forewarned). A transgender rock concert. This is what protecting “gender identity and expression” really means. Mass. Bill H1728 (now before the Legislature) would punish any opposition to such madness with fines and jail time. Even schools would be opened up to cross-dressing children, transgender restrooms and locker rooms, and sports teams. Employers would be subject to new non-discrimination regulations. (At the federal level, ENDA would force this on the country if passed.)

I see this as bigotry at it’s lowest form. Those who make up the “T” in our community are most often those of us who have it hardest in life. Transgender men and women are least likely to be employed, have adequate housing and even those lucky enough to have jobs on average make under $25000 a year. And even though it’s rarely mentioned, I think we’re all aware that people who are Transgender sit at the bottom of the LGBT pile. It needs to change.

The now infamous “Patriots For A Moral Utah” group played one of the most elaborate hoaxes on Utah the state has ever seen. Claiming to be the new America Forever or Eagle Forum, the group announced a citizen’s initiative which would require LGBT residents to either enter therapy and convert to heterosexuality or by loaded onto a train and be shipped off to San Francisco.

Backing the group up was an incredibly thourough and well-laid out bill, adding to the plausibility of the initiative. The story was picked up by Joe.My.God and the entire nation seemed to go crazy on it for a day. That in itself I think makes the satire a success, as it got people to stand up and do something, even if just for a day. What makes this story so scary is that even though they paralleled the 3rd Reich, it was still believable! Everyone still thought it could happen.

Today the group launched their website, utahfairsolution.com. The site continues the farce, but the activists also included a personal message on one of the pages outlining their full intent and reasons of why they chose to go on such a creative route. You know.. I say bravo. Well done for standing up and doing something that got people talking, even if it was a little unorthodox!

A group calling itself “The Patriots For A Moral Utah” held a press conference this afternoon calling for a “Fair Solution” to the issue of homosexuals in Utah. Speculation is flying fast as to whether this is an absolute crazy-right wing idea, or political satire. Below is their initial press release, provided by Joe.My.God

Patriots For A Moral Utah are pleased to announce a press conference tomorrow, at which time we will announce a new bill which outlining a solution to the problem of homosexuality in Utah. In the past 5 years it has become increasingly difficult and troublesome for the stead-fast and moral citizens of Utah to live their lives and their faith in peace, while the homosexuals continually force their choices and behaviors on us. This new legislation, titled the “Utah Fair Solution,” will offer a peaceful but effective end to the tribulation in our blessed state. Despite promises from the homosexual activists to be out in force at the press conference, our President Nora Young has scheduled the announcement for 1pm in the Capitol Rotunda (March 8th). Please Join us.

At the press conference, Nora Young announced that their citizen’s initiative will force LGBT citizens to either enter therapy and convert to heterosexuality, or the state will provide amtrak train tickets for them to head off to San Francisco.

Look, I’m torn on the legitimacy of this. So here’s my thought.. if this is real, SCREW you moronic, idiotic, dream-land living bigots. You don’t have a chance in hell.However, if this is political theatre.. AWESOME hahahahahaha. Utah has been rampant with ugly and pointless message bills this session and it’s about time someone stood up and made a farce of it.

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Eric Ethington

"Eric, trying to have this conversation (lgbt rights) with you is ultimately like trying to teach a pig to dance, it just annoys the pig. So Eric, sorry to annoy you."
-Paul Mero, The Sutherland Institute.